


Tinted Shades

by Marie_Ciel



Category: L'Arc~en~Ciel
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-11
Updated: 2012-02-11
Packaged: 2017-10-30 23:44:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/337521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_Ciel/pseuds/Marie_Ciel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Megumi felt as if she were walking beside a stranger.</i> Whenever Hyde was called for a photoshoot, her husband seemingly disappeared, replaced by a stranger- this was <i>their</i> Hyde, the one the public saw, and the real one was hidden away behind tinted shades.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tinted Shades

Megumi felt as if she were walking beside a stranger.

It was rather remarkable, how he could so effortlessly erase any undesirable emotion from his countenance in the unfeeling eyes of a camera lens, no matter how his thoughts may be clouded in misery. This was the Hyde the public would see: the Hyde of impossible cool, of subtle confidence- the Hyde who felt no pain.

This was not the Hyde that Megumi knew.

She knew the Hyde who would bottle it all up inside until it reached a breaking point. She knew the man who frustration would overwhelm all too often, who would sit at his desk, drowning in a headache until she would come rub his shoulders. She knew the man who would cry silently in the middle of the night of things he never told anyone, and she would embrace him and tell him everything was alright. She wondered what _he_ was like, the Hyde _they_ knew.

The shoot was long over by now, but the placid facade remained, carved deep into Hyde's soft features. His mouth was set in a hard line, full lips disclosing nothing, feeling nothing; beneath it all, Megumi could faintly hear his heart singing in a minor key.

Well out of the prying eyes of overeager presses, their footsteps took a moment of pause for breath as Megumi leaned close, placing a tender kiss on her husband's cheek. Perhaps it was only her imagination-- perhaps his skin really was cold as ice.

Those sunglasses were masking his beautiful eyes; Megumi longed to see what emotion colored them. Was he even looking at her? It was impossible to tell- it was merely that image of effortless cool, the Hyde of the public eye. Those sunglasses were hiding what made him most human, what made him most beautiful.

At the lightest contact of her lips on his skin, his mouth did not so much as twitch- visibly, he showed no response. Whether it was her wishful imagination or reality, she was sure she felt him relax ever so slightly.

“Hyde...” She whispered in her gentlest voice, raw worry and concern pointed enough to make him turn in her direction, surveying her through his obscuring shades. “What's wrong?”

Still he did nothing. Did this Hyde feel nothing, nothing at all? An impulse overtook her, and she reached up, her fingers settling upon the dark frames of his sunglasses. His hands flew up in defense, though they only hovered uselessly in the air, never mustering the strength to connect with hers. Slowly, they dropped to his sides, allowing his wife to slip the shades from his face.

One Hyde faded; the other suddenly became visible.

Tears ran in long tracks down his cheeks, spilling over from his soft, dark eyes. Misery and loneliness and _pain_ were running free in the open air, no longer masked by tinted lenses.

The world shattered into a million brilliant pieces, burying their infinitely sharp edges deep into his heart. She could see it. Perhaps no one else could.

In a moment- a second, a breath, nothing more- the image was gone. Hyde had an arm slung loosely over her shoulders, his face buried into her shoulder. Fresh tears pressed against the exposed skin of her neck, and his pain was hers.

“Please... don't let them see...”

The Hyde they knew begged her; the Hyde she knew cried upon her shoulder. Moving gingerly as if he could break at the slightest touch, she came to embrace him, pulling him close so he would know she was there.

He felt the pressure of his double life taking its toll. Stress and frayed nerves built up far past their limits, but he could never let anyone see that. Not even Megumi- he didn't want her to see his weakness.

She did not care. It was all too much, too much, and he had to cope somehow. Better he release it in her arms, where he would not have to be alone.

Gently, she kissed his forehead-- their Hyde, her Hyde, the man she truly loved.


End file.
